A critical discourse analysis of the u s president barack obama’s inaugural speeches in 2009 and 2013

THESIS A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE U.S PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURAL SPEECHES IN 2009 AND 2013 PHÂN TÍCH DIỄN NGÔN PHÊ PHÁN BÀI PHÁT BIỂU NHẬM CHỨC CỦA TỔNG THỐNG MỸ BARA

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE U.S PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURAL SPEECHES IN 2009 AND 2013

(PHÂN TÍCH DIỄN NGÔN PHÊ PHÁN BÀI PHÁT BIỂU NHẬM CHỨC CỦA TỔNG THỐNG MỸ BARACK OBAMA

NĂM 2009 VÀ 2013)

NGUYỄN THU TRANG

Hanoi, 2016

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE U.S PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURAL SPEECHES IN 2009 AND 2013

(PHÂN TÍCH DIỄN NGÔN PHÊ PHÁN BÀI PHÁT BIỂU NHẬM CHỨC CỦA TỔNG THỐNG MỸ BARACK OBAMA

NĂM 2009 VÀ 2013)

NGUYỄN THU TRANG

Field: English Language Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Do Kim Phuong, Ph.D

Hanoi, 2016

Back hard cover

i

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report

entitled A critical discourse analysis of the U.S president Barack Obama’s

inaugural speeches in 2009 and 2013 submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2016

Nguyen Thu Trang

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Do Kim Phuong, Ph.D

Date:………

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe special debts of gratitude to my lecturers, colleagues, family and friends for their support in my completing the thesis

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Do Kim

Phuong, Ph.D for her advice, critical comments and invaluable suggestions

My heartfelt sense of gratitude goes to my family for their emotional support

in accomplishing this graduation thesis

Hanoi, 2016

Nguyen Thu Trang

iii

ABSTRACT

The thesis aims at exploring how power and ideology are achieved through language via the analysis of the inaugural speech in 2009 and 2013 by U.S President Barack Obama using one of the discourse analysis approaches – critical discourse analysis Firstly, the research maps out the theoretical framework of CDA, the concepts of power and ideology and then examines the importance of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFL) to CDA Accordingly, the framework of CDA procedure which sets the basis for the analysis of the two inaugural speeches will be analyzed and interpreted The analysis consists

of three stages namely: description, interpretation and explanation The findings and the conclusion of the thesis prove the author’s assumption about the ideological power relations in the speech

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: The triangle of discourse analysis: language,

practice and context

9

Figure 4: Aspects of interpersonal management 18

Table 1: The occurrence of personal pronoun in the two

speeches

35

Table 2: Number and percentage of passive and active

sentences used in the speeches

37

Table 3: The words with high frequency of using throughout

the two inaugural speeches by Barack Obama

44

Table 5: Summary of thematization analysis 49

vi

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Barack Obama’s inaugural speech on January 21, 2009

Appendix 2: Barack Obama’s inaugural speech on January 21, 2013

Appendix 3: Passive clauses and frequency of modality found in the speeches

Appendix 4: Transitivity analysis

Appendix 5: Speeches before and after the inaugural speeches in 2009 and 2013 of

President Barack Obama

2.2.2.1 Critical discourse analysis (CDA) 9

viii

2.2.2.4 Systemic Functional Grammar (SFL) in CDA 16

CHAPTER 4: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

OF THE U.S PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S

INAUGURAL SPEECHES IN 2009 AND 2013

26

5.4 Recommendations/suggestions for further research 64

is the one who realizes the power of language more than anyone else

In the President speeches, important political speeches, each word, each structure is chosen as function of ideological communicative

presuppositions and implications

Looking deep into his speeches, attempt to see the biased models and socially shared, it is clear that President Obama strategically produces the discourse on line, word by word, sentence by sentence All choice

of vocabularies, lexical, arguments and many other features of discourse structure in his speeches strategically index his ideology Especially, his inaugural speeches on January 21, 2009 and 2013 shows his power and ideology at most as he won sufficient delegates

in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination

In order to find out how effective language can be in expressing ideas

or ideologies, in other words, to find out the relationship between language and power, critical discourse analysis (CDA) is considered as

a challenge for critical language study - it can make a considerable contribution on issues which are vitally important for the future of humankind

For the above reasons, the author conducts the research entitled A

critical discourse analysis of the U.S president Barack Obama’s inaugural speeches in 2009 and 2013

1.2 Aims of the research

The research aims at presenting an analysis of the U.S President Barack Obama’s inaugural speeches under the light of critical discourse analysis Accordingly, the study suggests implications for linguistics strategies which are used by speaker to get his ideologies

and power across

1.3 Specific objectives of the research

Firstly, the research describes the linguistic features of the speech basing on the theory of Fairclough on critical discourse analysis Lastly, the study suggests the power and ideology of President Obama hidden behind words and shows how language is used to

embody power and the relation between them

1.4 Scope of the research

Regarding academic scope, the study focuses on the critical discourse

analysis of the President Obama’s inaugural speech in 2009 and 2013

Regarding social scope, this research focuses on his inaugural speeches in 2009 and 2013

1.5 Significance of the research

Regarding the theoretical significance, critical discourse analysis has drawn much attention from linguistics for years Linguists who find interest in this field are making efforts to describe the concepts of critical discourse analysis and to enhance the consciousness of how power and ideology are embedded in language in particular and the relation between language and society in general

Regarding practical significance, this study is expected to raise a voice in applying and advancing critical discourse analysis in doing linguistic research Also, it is a contribution to find out the role of language in maintaining and attaining power and ideology of the politician Barack Obama The results of the study, therefore, hope to make readers more aware of the powerful strength of language in the ideology structure in order to achieve more equality and more power

in contemporary society

1.6 Structure of the research

The thesis is designed into 5 chapters:

Chapter 1 is the introduction of the thesis that deals with rationale, aims, specific objectives, scope and significance of the study

Chapter 2 introduces the literature review that being in charge of reviewing previous studies on critical discourse analysis of the U.S President Barack Obama’s first inaugural speech At the same time, theoretical background presents the theories used in the study including the definition of discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis, key concepts in critical discourse analysis, discourse and power and Systemic Functional Grammar in critical discourse

Chapter 3 is the methodology that indicates methods which are used

in the study to analyze data

Chapter 4 is the findings and discussions showing the result of the study The analysis of data and the findings are both indicated in this chapter

Chapter 5 is the conclusion that summarizes major findings and provides concluding remarks of the above chapters

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Review of previous studies

There are many studies on discourse analysis of the U.S President

Barack Obama’s speech Among them, a study named A critical

discourse of Barack Obama’s speeches, 2010 by Junling Wang,

School of Foreign languages, Lanzhou, China is the one that using the theory of M.A.K Halliday - systemic functional language (SFL) in critical discourse analysis to analyze the speech and to show readers the ideology and power of the President Also, the data of the study is

the first inaugural speech of the President Barack Obama

In the study, the author divides SFL in two components: systemic and functional grammar The study analyzes the speeches basing on Halliday’s theory on meta-functions including ideational, interpersonal and textual function The ideational function is represented in text by transitivity The table 2-3 (p.3) shows the statistics of basic semantic system - process types including material process, mental process, relational process, behavioral process, verbal process and existential process The author collects percentage of using transitivity in each process and makes detailed explanation for them The study also shows how ideology and power of the President manifested through his linguistic strategies The study provides implications of critical discourse analysis for teaching/studying English Also, the research shows the linguistic strategy which is used for manifesting the ideology and power of the U.S President Barack Obama as well as other politicians in certain context However, the

research needs to focus more on the theory background for enhancing persuasiveness to readers

2.2 Review of theoretical background

2.2.1 Theoretical framework

The discourse is said to be multidimensional structure It is definitely layered with various meaning, conveying the speaker’s ideologies, thought and ideas Because of the complexity of the discourse in terms of both structures and meanings, the understanding of texts does not just come from the analysis of vocabulary, grammatical features or cohesive devices To comprehend the author (the speaker) and the receptor (the hearer) bringing to the text, critical discourse analysis offers the opportunity to adopt a social perspective, critical thinking, etc into the investigation With the critical discourse analysis approach, each discourse has its own life Therefore, the discourse analysis approach has to be chosen to be the theoretical background for this study

have drawn much attention from linguistics Accordingly, the

question: What is discourse analysis? is posed There are many of theories on the definition of discourse analysis The studies of M.A.K

Halliday (1978), Guy Cook (1989), and Wodak (1989) served to illustrate the main assumption and principles of what is known as discourse analysis

The British linguist, Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often

M.A.K Halliday) in his book Language as social semiotic (1978) focused on the linguistic system and the social structure as social

semiotics In the 1970s, discourse analysis was not yet defined but

Halliday’s theory had stressed the relationship between grammatical system and the social and personal needs that language is required to serve The outstanding implications in his study is that the distinction between three meta-functions of language which are continuously interconnected: ideational, interpersonal and textual According to Halliday, grammar is organized basing on these three meta-functions: (1) representing ideas about everything (“ideational”), (2) facilitating interpersonal and social interactions (“interpersonal”), (3) integrating these ideas and interactions into meaningful texts, which must be relevant to their context (“textual”)

Consequently, the ideational function through which language lends structure to experience; interpersonal function which constitutes relationships between participants, and finally, textual function which

constitutes coherence and cohesion in texts In the book Discourse (1989: 6-7) by Guy Cook, he stated that language in use, for

communication is called “discourse”; and the search for what gives

it examines How stretches of language, considered in their full

textual, social and psychological context, becoming meaningful and unified for their users

In the study, there are several examples of text which analyzed in a certain context to show the relation between them Many of discourse and discourse analysis assumptions have been elaborated for the development of the theory including:

- Texts are the relevant units of language in communication

- It is supposed that language should be seen in and out of context A linguistic message aside from their literal meaning, many factors apart from the language itself is recommended to be paid attention Eg: context of linguistic message, paralinguistic features of a spoken message (Guy Cook, 1989)

In her work The discourse studies reader: Main currents in theory

and analysis (1989, ext 2014: 4-5), Ruth Wodak after distinguishing

the definition of discourse with sentence, language and text has concluded: discourse refers to: a cluster of context-dependent

practices that are: situated within specific fields of social action; socially constituted and socially constitutive, related to a macro- topic; link to the argumentation about validity claims such as truth and normative validity, involving several social factors who have different points of view

The study on discourse must be the integration of discourse analysis and discourse method Discourse theory is the combination of power, knowledge and subjectivity Accordingly, discourse analysis needs to deal with at least three components: a language, a practice and a context and they work as the triangle following:

Figure 1: The triangle of discourse analysis: language, practice

and context (p.7)

Language refers to written or oral text of the formal patterns,

conventions and resources in the broadest sense Practice consists of

specific ways of appropriating and processing language and everything may take place between the participants in interactions

Context refers to the situation, the setting or knowledge available

within which discourse participants contextualizing text In her study, Ruth Wodak shows how scholars who have engaged in linguistics, semiotic and discourse analysis from different scholarly backgrounds share a particular perspective in which the concepts of power, ideology and history figure centrally

2.2.2.1 Critical discourse analysis (CDA)

Critical discourse analysis is a term used to denote a theory formerly known as critical linguistics (CL) The two mentioned above terms can be used interchangeably CDA is practically an oriented form of discourse analysis aimed at addressing social problems CDA

appeared in the 1980s after the publication of the book Language and

Discourse analysis

Context Practice

Language

Power by Norman Fairclough (1989) The author provided the

introduction of critical study on by setting out basic theory of CDA: its aims, intentions and model The theory mainly based on the theory

of systemic functional grammar by M.A.K Halliday which could be described as following

In a later study Systemic functional grammar: a first step into theory

(1985), Halliday developed an international grammar model: the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFL) which imposed great influence

on linguistic The model could serve as main foundation for critical discourse analysis and pragmatics SFL has two major components: systemic grammar and functional grammar SFL is an approach to language in its social context, as an instrument of social interaction, rather than a formal, cognitive system that can be studied in isolation from social context It analyses how language speakers and hearers use language for communication Language basing on this model can

be seen as a social interaction, rather than a set of rules

Basing on the SFL’s theory of M.A.K Halliday, Norman Fairclough

in his later study Language and Power (1989) emphasizes the power

behind discourse rather than just power in discourse, how people with power shape the order of discourse as well as the social order in general, versus how people with power control what happens in specific interactions The research views that CDA raises people’s consciousness of how language contributes to the domination of some people by others

Accordingly, the author focused heavily on contextual knowledge and the combination of critical discourse analysis and explanation how it

figures within and contributes to the existing social reality He claims

that CDA sees itself not as a dispassionate and objective social

science, but as engaged and committed; a form of intervention in social practice and social relationship (P.358_Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction, 2006) Fairclough defines CDA as

discourse analysis which aims to systemically explore often opaque relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations

of power and struggle over power; and to explore how the capacity of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing power and hegemony

In summary, CDA is supposed to focus mainly on the question of language and power, making transparent the connections between discourse practices, social practices and social structures

2.2.2.2 Concepts in CDA

Critical, ideology and power are three key factors which should be

investigated into for better understanding of CDA

Critical is supposed to be understood as having distance to the data, embedding the data in the social, taking a political stance explicitly

(Critical and functional perspectives on time and value, 2003, P.6,

J.R.Martin and Ruth Wodak) and often associated with studying power relations

According to John Brookshire Thompson in Ideology and modern

culture (1990: 12), ideology refers to social forms and processes within which, and by means of which, symbolic forms circulate in the social world Ideology is an important aspect of establishing and maintaining unequal power relation Ideology is seen as an important

aspect of establishing and maintaining unequal power relations Therefore, the study of ideology is the study of the way in which meaning is constructed and conveyed by symbolic forms of various kinds

The last factor is the power As mentioned above, ideology has close

link to power because of the power relations to pose impact on particular conventions which embedded by nature of ideological assumptions The relationship between language and power is of great importance especially in modern times with a lot of significant social and economic changes Consequently, power is about relations

of differences, particularly about the effects of differences in social structure

2.2.2.3 CDA framework

The study follows the procedure including 3 stages: description, interpretation and explanation in the framework of critical discourse

analysis by Fairclough For the first level, in the book Language and

power (1989) by Fairclough, the author provides a list of several

questions to guide text analysis including vocabulary, grammar and textual structures

Vocabulary

1 What experiential values do words have?

- What classification schemes are drawn upon?

- Are there words which are ideologically contested?

- Is there rewording or overwording?

- What ideologically significant meaning relations are there between words?

2 What relational values do words have?

- Are there euphemistic expressions?

- Are there markedly formal or informal words?

3 What expressive values do words have?

4 What metaphors are used?

Grammar

5 What experiential values do grammatical features have?

- What types of process and participant predominance?

- Is agency unclear?

- Are processes what they seem?

- Are nominalizations used?

- Are sentences active or passive?

- Are sentences positive or negative?

6 What relational values do grammatical features have?

- What modes (declarative, grammatical question, imperative) are used?

- Are there important features of relational modality?

- Are there pronouns we and you used? and if so, how?

7 What expressive values do grammatical features have?

- Are there important features of expressive modality?

8 How are sentences linked together?

- What logical connectors are used?

- Are complex sentences characterized by coordination or subordination?

- What means are used for referring inside and outside the text?

Textual structures

9 What interactional conventions are used?

- Are there ways in which one participant control the turns of others?

10 What larger-scale structures does the text have?

The second phase of CDA is supposed to be the interpretation which

is concerned with the relationship between text and interaction with seeing the text as the product of a process of production, and as a

resource in the process of interpretation This stage deals with what is

going on, who is involved, what relationship are at issue, and what is the role of language Its process is summarized as the following

figure:

Interpretative procedures (MR) Resources Interpreting

Social orders Situational context

Interactional history Intertextual

Schemata Text structure and point

Figure 2: Interpretation (Language and power, Fairclough, 2001: 119)

The third level of CDA is explanation which is concerned with the

relationship between interaction and social context with the social

determination of the processes of production and interpretation, and

their social effects

Societal Societal Institutional MR Discourse MR Institutional (The member’s resources)

Situational Situational

Determinants Effects Figure 3: Explanation (Language and power, Fairclough, 2001: 122)

In the stage of explanation, discourse would be seen as part of

process, as social practice, showing how it is determined by social

structures and what reproductive effects discourse can have on those

structures, sustaining them or change them

2.2.2.4 Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) in CDA

Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is a model of grammar

developed by M.A.K Halliday in the 1960s SFG so far has been the

most comprehensive framework of CDA Fairclough also points out

the complementary relationship between SFL and CDA: SFL is

profoundly concerned with the relationship between language and

other elements and aspects of social life, and its approach to the

linguistics analysis of texts is always oriented to the social character

of text This makes it a valuable source for critical discourse analysis

and indeed major constructions to critical discourse analysis have

developed out of SFL

In SFL, lexico-grammar is functional grounded, shaped by the social

functions it serves, and built around the intersection of the

macro-functions language The macro-macro-functions of language consist of

Experiential meaning (a model of experience), interpersonal meaning

(enacting social relationship) and textual meaning (creating relevant

to context)

The experiential meaning is realized through the transitivity system

concerns the Process, Participants and Circumstances described in the text The different types of process as construed by the transitivity system in the grammar are classified based on our awareness of our inner and outer experience Those are used to describe the external, or

physical world, are of material processes; those that portray our consciousness are of mental processes, and those are relate one fragment of experience to another are of relational processes In

addition to the three main types, there are three subtypes of process

namely behavioral, verbal and existential

Material process is the process of doing – expressing the notion that

some entity does something, which may be done to some other entity,

for example typing, running, cooking, and so on Mental process is the process of sensing such as thinking, loving, wanting, hoping

Relational process is the process of being, having and being at, which

is typically realized by the verb to be or some verbs of the same class

for example: seem, become, appear Behavioural process is the

intermediary between material and mental processes – is the process

of physiological and psychological behavior such as breathing,

crying, drinking Verbal process is the process of saying such as saying, speaking, talking or of any kind of symbolic exchange such as showing, indicating Existential process represents experience by

positing that “there was/is something” In summary, participants are

Material process Participants are Actor, Goal, Recipient Behavioral process Participants are Behaver

Mental process Participants are Sensor, phenomenon

Verbal process Participants are Sayer Target, verbiage,

Recipient Relational process Participants are Carrier, attribute Identifier Existential process Participants are Existent

The interpersonal meaning is realized through the mood structure As

for textual analysis, modality is paid much attention to

Modality Personal

While the Mood is concerned with Yes/No, semantically there are

intermediate stages - points between yes and no such as may be or

sometimes or supposedly - which are expressed by modality

Regarding Textual meaning, thematic structure is under investigation

The textual meaning deals with creating between parts of what is being said and between text and context The question for this part is

How the context of the text organized? The two elements Theme and Rheme will be analyzed The theme serves as the point of departure of

the message, and the rheme is the remainder of the message The figure following is the summary of components of multiple theme:

Structural (Conjunction or WH- relative)

Conjunctive (Adjunct) Interpersonal theme Vocative

Modal (Adjunct) Finite (Operator) WH-interrogative

is said to be unmarked where the subject is the starting point of the clause

2.2.2.5 Discourse and power

A major concern of CDA is the relations of power and language which can be considered as multi-dimensional The CDA assumption that power is embedded in discourse and how discourse mediates power Power could be recognized as power in discourse and power behind discourse

Power in discourse

It is explicit that participants in discourse do not receive the equality Power controls and constraints the contributions of non-powerful participants The constraints can be broadly classified into three main types:

 Constraints in contents: what is said or done namely access

to communicative resources

 Constraints in relations: social relations of people in discourse

 Constraints in subjects: subject positions of others

Power behind discourse

In his book, Fairclough mentions how orders of discourse being shaped Discourse is seen as the stake in power struggle for control over orders of discourse is a powerful mechanism of sustaining power Knowing how to make use of public discourse, powerful leaders can achieve our goals in passing out their ideologies to public effectively

2.3 Summary

In summary, the research is to answer the two questions on the ideology and power reflected under the light of critical discourse

analysis in the speech and linguistic strategies which the speaker resorts to get his ideology and power across The approach of the study is the Fairclough’s approach and Systemic Functional Grammar (SFL) by M.A.K Halliday The speeches are also analyzed in terms of transitivity and thematization in order to look further into the power and ideology hidden behind words The critical discourse analysis (CDA) procedure by Norman Fairclough and Systemic Functional Grammar (SFL) by M.A.K Halliday is attached to the thesis, that is to see how language and power are embedded and reflected lexically and syntactically

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research-governing orientations

3.1.1 Research questions

The study is to answer 2 research questions:

Question 1: What are the ideology and power reflected under the light

of critical discourse analysis in the speeches?

Question 2: What linguistic strategies does the speaker resort to get his ideology and power across?

3.1.2 Research setting

The collected data was the transcript of U.S President Barack Obama’s first inaugural speech on January 21, 2009 and 2013 on the website: https://www.whitehouse.gov (Detailed in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2)

3.1.3 Research approaches

This study is attached to Fairclough’s approach which is founded on SFL has been one of the most comprehensive frameworks of CDA It

covers in details three levels of discourse analysis: Description,

Interpretation and Explanation This framework will be described

more clearly in 2.2.2.3 CDA framework and 2.2.2.4 Systemic

Functional Grammar (SFL) in CDA

As doing this research, the main focus is on both quantitative and qualitative methods Quantitative method will be used to analyze linguistic features such as vocabulary, the pronouns and processes

Qualitative method will be applied to review the impacts of such linguistics features to express power, ideology and create the persuasiveness of the speech

3.1.4 Principles/criteria for intended data collection and data analysis

The President Obama’s inaugural speeches are collected from the website: https://www.whitehouse.gov Linguistics features of the speeches are described A general textual description of the speech is made in terms of lexis and syntax to find out what and how the power and ideology are encoded Apart from that, the text is also analyzed in terms of transitivity, thematization and macrostructure to unveil the power and ideology of the speaker hidden behind words Then, the discourse is analyzed under a broader perspective The interpretation

of the relationship between productive and interpretative processes is put into the focus The final step is to explain how the discourse change or sustain social relationship in social structure

3.2 Research methods

3.2.1 Major methods

The major methods used in the thesis is the descriptive method because this method would be successfully used to describe the linguistics features of the two speeches

3.2.2 Data collection techniques

The President Obama’s inaugural speeches are collected from the website: https://www.whitehouse.gov There are many websites with the text of President Obama’s speech, however, the

https://www.whitehouse.gov is the official website of the White House and is owned by the United States Government

3.2.3 Data analysis techniques

The data analysis techniques to be used is based on the theoretical background of the study The grammatical and lexicology features would be analyzed by collecting matrices of categories and creating flow charts After that, the insightful investigation is made into the discourse of the two speeches to uncover the ideological assumptions that are hidden within discourse

3.3 Summary

Basing on the theory of Fairclough and M.A.K Halliday, the speeches will be analyzed in three stages In description stage, the speeches will be interpreted including lexical, grammatical characteristics and macro-structure In interpretation stage, the speeches will be

investigated in terms of situational context and intertextual context

Situational context will be looked at the answers for four main

questions: what is going on, who is involved, what relationship are at

issue, and what is the role of language With regard to intertextual context, the two speeches will be put in the links with some of

Obama’s related speeches In explanation stage, the impacts of the speeches on American will be discussed in terms of institutional and societal levels

Data collection is the two President Obama’s inaugural speeches collected from the website https://www.whitehouse.gov Both quantitative and qualitative methods would be used There are many

sources of the President Obama’s inaugural speech, however, the https://www.whitehouse.gov is the official website of the U.S Government

CHAPTER 4: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE U.S PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURAL

SPEECHES IN 2009 AND 2013

4.1 Textual analysis

President Barack Obama is the 44th U.S president with a Kenya-born black father and a white Kansas-bred mother His African American biography means that his voice definitely has great influence on both African and American community Obama, rather than anyone else, thoroughly understood the importance of his speech to express his power and ideology Every single words and clauses in his speech serves for certain purpose In 2009, his first inaugural speech was presented while several core issues facing the U.S at the time which are the economy, Iraq war and the divided society

All those issues have been reflected frankly in his inaugural speech and also, the President is wise enough to put the economic crisis first

in the speech At that time, economic issue is the number one in minds of Americans, but Obama stays consistent with his message of hope that Americans have always faced crises and overcome them In

2013, Barack Obama again reelected for the U.S President At this time, the civil right has been a hot issue in the U.S including women’s right and LGBT’s (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) right His inaugural speech was deepened in the language of the U.S constitution and rhetorical references to Martin Luther King, underlining the symbolism of the inauguration taking place on the national holiday that celebrates the civil rights leader Also, the President kept oath to recovery economic and to end wars by stating:

No one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful

nation (line 101 Appendix 2) Obama’s linguistics strategy using in

those speeches is supposed to be analyzed to show how his power and

ideology coming across

4.2 Analysis in terms of vocabulary used

According to Fairclough’s theory, vocabulary used would be

analyzed based on three types of values: experiential, relational, and

expressive

The experiential value deals with the speaker’s experience of the

natural or social world, also involving classification schemes, which

are his negative or positive attitude towards an issue In the two

speeches, President Obama affirms issues which drawing most

attention of the Americans, the solutions for those crises and most

importantly, the enforcement of American’s faith

In the beginning of both speeches, the President shows his negative

attitude towards the issues that U.S citizen is facing In his 2009’s

speech, Obama frankly admits the weakness which tears the America

Our economy is badly weakened

Homes have been lost, jobs shed, business shuttered Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many

Talking about negative points of the U.S, the speaker uses well

understood as an implication of the apology to the Americans and

also, a better solution coming after As for the 2013’s speech, in order to mention the civil right, the President inserts Thomas Jefferson’s saying in the Declaration of Independence (1776):

App 2

(line 8-10)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit

of happiness.”

He uses the famous saying of ancestor to create a link between the past, present and future and at the same time, to express his concern about the human right as a national issue in the U.S His negative

attitude manifests through the usage of negative words/phrases: a

sapping of confidence, a nagging fear, American’s decline (App.1,

line 20), Americans has been tested by crises (App.2, line 41) The

speaker’s words and phrases not only reveal his vision of reality but also his attitude In contrast, in his solution for the mentioned issues, President Obama builds up a positive picture with the favor of synonyms and antonyms by through his positive words/phrases A number of words/phrases which are near synonyms are used to refer

to the U.S country and people in both speeches in 2009 and 2013:

We line 9, 12, 13, 17, etc line 3, 4, 8, etc

our nation line 3, 12, 33, 140,

155